Some readers estimate that Kickstarter is creating a second golden age of gaming.

Earlier this week we published our Kickstarter Game Watch, an occasional feature that reports on some of the biggest and most interesting video game projects currently happening inside the crowd-funding service. Kickstarter was launched in April of 2009, and since then it has continued to gather attention as an incubator of original projects, including many video games. In his report this week, Kyle highlighted the funding gap that Republique needed to close before its funding deadline on Friday, a feat it managed with just hours to spare.

The Ars OpenForum and the Ars communities on social networks have been joining in the conversation, analyzing the current state crowd-funded games. In our gaming forum, members in the thread titled “Kickstarter Projects” are currently discussing some interesting game projects to watch. Dragondazdstarted the thread back in March with a request: “I'd like to be notified of promising Kickstarter games to fund and how well they go once they get funded/released,” and listed a couple of games worth tracking.

As some suggestions of games worth watching began to trickle into the thread, the discussion began to turn toward the quality of the games themselves. By their very nature, some Kickstarter gaming projects are going to take an iterative approach to their development, and some of the OpenForum members cited examples of projects that don’t seem very solid. As the weeks have gone by, other OpenForum members have addressed some of the business concerns that are inherent in funding games that are still works in progress. Viridis said, ”In the long term I cannot imagine Kickstarter being a true replacement for publishing funding unless there is real talk of return on investment, or projects reaching a bit more design maturity before being presented.”

Accountability and reporting of results also seems to be important to Ars readers. 劉煒, a member of the Ars Google+ page, said, “Wish there was a 'nonstarter' so you can fail projects. Also looking for the first wave of 'we promised this, but couldn't deliver' crashes.”

Of course, contributing $25 to a larger endeavor can make gamers feel more connected with those who create the gaming experiences. Foom acknowledges this effect, but notes that he is still on the fence: “I've been a bit torn over Kickstarter. On one hand I like the enthusiasm and the feeling of getting back to the roots of what gaming was in the old days. On the other, I'm worried that most of these projects will end up being huge disappointments.”

Some OpenForum membersfeel optimism about certain projects and titles. cblais19 shares positivity by saying, “Honestly, out of the games I've funded so far, The Banner Saga is the one I'm most looking forward to by far. Glad they managed to make their goals for the instrumental soundtrack, combined with a reasonably small scope I think they're going to have a really high quality release here.”

Those who pledge to support successful Kickstarter games can earn tangible "thank you" rewards such as personalized copies of the game and other bonus gifts. What’s more, as some Ars Technica readers on Twitter noted, there are also some less-tangible, more-personal rewards that come from Kickstarter funding. @Zammy_bg notes, “It also gives you this feeling of being part of something. You become much more closer to the devs. There is emotional commitment. You see how the project gets funded, you get info from 'the kitchen'. This does not happen with [a] normal AAA product.”

But can these independent, crowd-funded projects really have a solid future in the gaming ecosystem? Moodysuggests that one genre in particular will have trouble attracting funding unless the developers address pricing in their model: “...kickstarter for MMOs ((full MMOs, not tech demos)) just seems like a bad bet for me unless one of the lower levels includes a lifetime subscription option and their cost estimate for Kickstarter includes base server operation for 6 months.”

Indie games seem to be supporting the needs of many gamers right now. The forum thread cites many games that Ars readers have invested in, and readers like @DarrenAthertonsumtalk about some of the benefits of these independent projects: “Indie games play my favourite part of the gaming industry. So many gems to uncover, many of them free. Bringing games to the masses!” @0xabad1deasays indie projects are part of “the second golden age of PC gaming.”

Right before Republique had met its goal, cblais19 said, “…hope they make it. The iOS ecosystem needs games of this level, both to show it can be done, and to become a more legit competitor to the separate game consoles.”

How do you think Kickstarter projects and other crowd-funded games will impact gaming in the future? If you’re new to the OpenForum, register for an account and join in the discussion.

Promoted Comments

I was very tempted to donate to the double fine adventure and Wasteland 2, but ultimately, it's asking me to put money in for a game that may or may not ever actually get made and may or may not suck when it's finished. Ultimately, I'd rather hold on to my cash and buy it when it's done, if it's good.

Wasteland 2 and DF's project are the things you can count on to most likely be done, as in with near certainty. They're established teams of industry pros with reputations to maintain and now they've got a few million dollars' worth of responsibility to their backers. It's the games by people freshly out of a CS degree that you should think twice about.

The good thing about Kickstarter is that you can choose how much to contribute. I gave $100 to Wasteland 2 because I'm a big fan of Wasteland, and I have a pretty high degree of confidence in the team creating it. On other projects that I have relatively high confidence in, I tend to contribute around $50. For a project that seems like it has a higher risk of failure, I'd be more inclined to contribute in the $15 - $25 range.

I don't expect every project I help fund to produce a great product. Some of them will likely be flops, but that doesn't bother me at all. I contribute so that the creators at least get the opportunity to try, even if not all of them are successful. To me, it's worth a few dollars to give them a chance.

I'd much rather pay for the creation of something new (even if it might be a flop) than pay for a copy of something that already exists (even if I know it's good), and I'm willing to pay even more for the creation of something new from a creator who has earned my trust by creating good things in the past.

Cesar Torres / Cesar is the Social Editor at Ars Technica. His areas of expertise are in online communities, human-computer interaction, usability, and e-reader technology. Cesar lives in New York City.